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DotheDeadReturn? 



A Startling Story from Life 




Crown Publishing Company 
San Francisco 

1900 




OR. LOUIS SCHLESINGER. 



DO THE DEAD RETURN ? 



A TRUE STORY 

OF STARTLING SEANCES 
IN SAN FRANCISCO 



NOTICE 

This work is copyrighted. Editors are warned 
not to make unlawful abridgments. 



CROWN PUBLISHING COMPANY 

SAN FRANCISCO 

1900 

* 
\ 



Liorvry of Cangrmmm 

OCT 3 1900 
SECOND CCv. 

UviivftWl t» 

0*018 O'viSIOfc, 

_0CT 19 1900 



COPYRIGHT, 1900 

BY 

CROWN PUBLISHING CO. 



I- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Pass 

Introduction 5 

The Author's Story 7 

The " Examiner m Seance .... 14 

Some Startling Daylight Seances . 19 

Character of the Narrators. . . 55 



INTRODUCTION. 

Before this little volume is read a few 
words of explanation should be carefully 
weighed, for otherwise the reader might 
go away with many false impressions. 

The author desires to say that every 
word here printed is absolutely and liter- 
ally true. Nothing has been added or sup- 
pressed, but the entire truth has been 
expressed, usually in the exact language 
of the distinguished gentlemen whose nar- 
ratives make the bulk of the book. In 
most instances the witnesses summoned 
wrote their accounts with their own 
hands, and the original manuscripts are 
still preserved. 

Though many years have passed since 
the events recorded herein transpired, 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

all who witnessed the phenomena are 
still alive, and all are well-known and rep- 
utable citizens of San Francisco. It 
was only a few days ago that the author 
met Captain W. S. Barnes, who was Dis- 
trict Attorney of the City and County of 
San Francisco in 1893 (the date of the oc- 
currences with which the book deals), 
and he said : " What I saw in the presence 
of the medium has puzzled me all these 
years. I can truthfully say that the 
things that took place at Mayor Ellert's 
office are the most wonderful events that 
I have ever come upon. They are abso- 
lutely beyond my understanding." 

The circumstances with which the nar- 
rative deals are an important contribu- 
tion to the history of psychic research, 
and they are presented for what they are 
worth while the witnesses and actors in 

the story are alive. m A 

J The Author. 

ISan FranciscOy September, 1900, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE AUTHOR'S STOEY. 

In the autumn of 1891, the author of 
this narrative was business manager of 
the Modesto (California) Daily News. 
One afternoon while he was engaged in 
an important consultation with the late 
Senator J. D. Spencer, one of the owners 
of the News, there was a knock at the door 
of the editorial rooms. In a twinkling 
an old gentleman entered ; he was a ven- 
erable-looking, long-bearded man, with 
Hebraic features. 

Before Senator Spencer and I could 
say, " Good day, sir ! " the old man said 
something like this : " Gentlemen, I am 
Dr. Louis Schlesinger, the famous Spirit- 
ualist medium. It is well known that I 



8 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

can talk with the good angels, and I desire 
to have a series of seances here in Mo- 
desto." 

" Our advertising columns are open," 
I said, " and we shall be pleased to an- 
nounce your meetings at the regular 
rates." 

" I have no money to spare," he replied ; 
" but I think you will say something about 
me when I show you that man lives after 
death." 

The Senator whispered to me (on dis- 
covering that the old gentleman was quite 
deaf), "I guess he's escaped from the 
Stockton Lunatic Asylum." 

Stockton was but twenty miles away, 
and I assented, but said, " Suppose we 
sound him before we send for an officer." 

So we agreed to give Dr. Schlesinger an 
opportunity to convince us that he was a 
man of rare endowments, as he pretended 
to be. 

Coming to the point, it was arranged 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 9 

that the Senator should retire to the press- 
room while I remained with the aged 
suspect. 

" Take eight or ten slips of paper," said 
Dr. Schlesinger, " and write one name on 
each — some of living, some of dead per- 
sons; and don't tell me or anybody on 
earth what names you have written on the 
slips. Roll them into little pellets — and 
come back here with your mind at rest, 
for I am not insane, as you think." 

We were somewhat surprised, for both 
were certain that the old gentleman 
could not have heard Senator Spencer's 
whispered doubt concerning our visitor's 
sanity. 

In a few minutes Senator Spencer re- 
turned, bearing a number of paper pellets 
which he held in his clenched right hand. 

Doors were closed and a table was 
rolled to the center of the room. Dr. 
Schlesinger closed his eyes and appeared 
to fall into a light slumber. At once there 



10 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

were many distinct raps on the table, as 
if some one had thumped upon it with a 
finger. This was rather singular, as we 
could see that our visitor's hands in no 
manner touched the table. 

Suddenly the old man opened his eyes 
and said : " Gentlemen, are you satisfied 
that I do not know any of the names on 
those papers?" 

As Senator Spencer was as truthful 
and honorable a man as ever lived, one 
whose word was better than most men's 
bonds, I replied : " I am sure you have not 
seen the names and that you do not know 
one of them." 

"And some of the names are not known 
to anybody in California," added the 
Senator. 

" Then I '11 have to show you that I can 
talk with the spirits of the departed," 
said Dr. Schlesinger. 

Without further delay he said : " I see 
the spirit of your mother standing over 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 11 

you. She calls you Dillard, which is your 
middle name, and she says she died in 
Kansas City, and was buried in the old 
cemetery at Westport. Am I right? " 

Senator Spencer turned pale and said : 
" That is absolutely correct. Which one 
of the pellets bears her name? " 

He then held the bits of paper between 
his right finger and thumb, and when he 
had picked up three or four of them, the 
medium said, " That is the one which con- 
tains your mother's maiden name." 

I have now forgotten the maiden name 
of the Senator's mother, though I think it 
was Dillard. The answer, however, was 
correct. 

Next, without asking me to write any- 
thing down, the medium thus addressed 
me : "I see the spirit of your mother's 
mother. Her name was Eliza Johnson, 
and she calls you % my son,' and says, 
1 Tell Anne that immortality is the glori- 
ous truth of human life.' Anne was the 
name of her eldest child — your mother." 



12 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

If Senator Spencer was convinced that 
Dr. Schlesinger had told him the truth, I 
had the same kind of conviction in my 
case; for every word uttered was correct. 
I have never understood how this old man 
came to the results announced, nor have 
I ever seen any one who was able to ex- 
plain his power. 

With the memory of my Modesto ex- 
periences fresh in mind, I decided, when 
1 came upon Dr. Schlesinger in San Fran- 
cisco, in 1893, to institute a series of day- 
light seances in the presence of some of 
the most distinguished citizens of San 
Francisco. As I was then a writer of the 
San Francisco Daily Examiner staff I 
found rare opportunities for enlisting the 
men desired in the experiments. I was 
not then, nor am I now, in any manner 
affiliated with Spiritualists, nor do I set 
forth the facts of this narrative for the 
purpose of making converts to any theory 
of mind or matter. 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 13 

The manuscript from which this work 
is printed was written at the time of the 
matters recorded, on an order from the 
Examiner. Owing to the fact that Mayor 
Ellert afterwards regretted that he had 
allowed a seance to be held in his office, 
the Examiner was induced to suppress the 
story, which now appears in detail for the 
first time. It should be borne in mind 
that all that follows was written at the 
time of the events described. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE " EXAMINEE " SEANCE. 

That the reader may fully understand 
the origin of the experiments recorded 
in the narrative that follows, it is neces- 
sary to state again that I was a writer for 
the Examiner in the autumn of 1893, and 
that I was on the alert for what news- 
paper men call " stories," or special arti- 
cles — things a little outside of the ordi- 
nary run of news. 

Ambitious to arrange something of un- 
usual interest, I approached Mr. Hearst 
and S. S. Chamberlain, who were in 
charge of the news department of the 
paper. I told them what I had seen Dr. 
Schlesinger do in Modesto, and outlined 
the plans that were afterwards carried out 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 15 

— seances at the office of Mayor Ellert and 
the Chief of Police, in the presence of 
prominent citizens. First, however, it was 
necessary for the editors to see the 
medium at their offices; for they feared 
there would be some failure, and that the 
citizens invited would be disgusted be- 
cause of their loss of time in useless ex- 
periments. 

For these reasons, therefore, the first 
sittings were at the editorial offices of the 
Examiner, where the editors were as 
much puzzled as anybody else. They were 
at once convinced that, however he per- 
formed his feats, Dr. Schlesinger was at 
least not a bungling master of the black 
art. Several intelligent observers were 
present, among them one or two of the 
brightest newspaper men in the city. The 
experiments were not only carefully 
noted, but they were viewed with grave 
suspicion. They were, however, wholly 
informal and merely preliminary to the 



16 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

more important and prolonged seances 
that followed at the office of the Mayor 
of the city, and later at the office of and in 
the presence of the city's Chief of Police. 
A few facts concerning the occurrences at 
the Examiner office are given that the 
reader may have the full benefit of the 
story. 

One of the investigators (Managing 
Editor A. B. Henderson) wrote a number 
of names on slips of paper, before Dr. 
Schlesinger arrived. They were not seen 
or known to any one save the person that 
prepared them, and the slips on which 
they were written were carefully folded 
and clasped in a bundle, by a rubber band 
or elastic. Great pains was taken by Mr. 
Henderson to prevent the medium from 
handling or seeing the slips. Without 
seeing the writing, Dr. Schlesinger at 
once gave the names correctly. One of 
them was that of Thaddeus Stevens, the 
eminent Pennsylvanian ; and when the 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 17 

folded slip on which his name was written 
was touched by Mr. Henderson, the 
medium said : " That is the name of 
Thaddeus Stevens, who knew you well. 
He calls you Alexander, and sends you his 
love." 

Then the name of the sitter's deceased 
uncle was properly announced, though it 
had not been written on any of the slips. 
Correct information was also given con- 
cerning the uncle's religion while " in the 
flesh." 

S. S. Chamberlain, now Managing Edi- 
tor of the Philadelphia North American, 
(then News Editor of the Examiner) 
was one of the investigators. He wrote 
down, on separate slips of paper, the 
names of many living and dead persons, 
but, contrary to the medium's request, he 
did not write the names of persons he had 
ever known. In a few moments Dr. 
Schlesinger read the names correctly 
while the slips were beyond his reach, and 



18 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

firmly clasped in Chamberlain's hand. 
They were of such persons as John Rus- 
kin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Shakespeare, 
Longfellow, etc. 

A faithful report of all that occurred 
was submitted to the managing editor of 
the paper, who at once decided that a 
series of similar experiments, conducted 
at the office of the Mayor of the city and 
others, in broad daylight, would make the 
basis for some interesting Sunday 
specials. Under his instructions I ar- 
ranged the seances, and was present at all 
of them. I subsequently wrote a faithful 
account of what occurred, but the articles 
were rejected by the editor of the Sunday 
Examiner for personal reasons. This 
volume embraces the substance of what 
was then prepared. 



CHAPTEK III. 

SOME STARTLING DAYLIGHT SEANCES. 

It was on September 4, 1893, that a 
number of the most prominent citizens of 
San Francisco held a daylight seance (at 
high noon) at the office of Mayor Ellert. 
The company had assembled in response 
to the Examiner's invitation, and all of 
the witnesses had agreed in advance to 
observe everything closely and write an 
absolutely fair account of what they saw, 
adding any theory or explanation that 
seemed sufficient to account for the phe- 
nomena. 

It is as well to say that is was a mirth- 
ful assembly at the outset, and the news- 
paper man who had arranged for the 
experiments was the butt of many little 



20 DO THE DEAD RETURN f 

jokes. The idea that the medium could 
do anything more than a little clever 
juggling seemed farthest from anybody's 
thoughts. 

Dr. Louis Schlesinger, then a man 
about sixty-one years of age, was the 
spiritualist medium who said he could 
convince all present that the dead return, 
and that he could hold communion with 
the living. The following spectators were 
present, and the written reports of some 
of them are given in full in the subjoined 
narrative : Mayor Levi R. Ellert, District 
Attorney W. S. Barnes, President Theo- 
dore F. Bonnet, of the San Francisco 
Press Club, Ex-President Grant Carpen- 
ter, of the same club, H. H. McCloskey, 
then a State Central Committeeman of 
the Republican party, and many other 
casual observers. 

At another seance Chief of Police 
Crowley, Judge Robert Ferral, Dr. R. E. 
Bunker, and Attorney Charles L. Patton 



DO THE DEAD RETURN t 21 

were the principal investigators, though 
Captain Wright and many others saw all 
that was done. At this seance the obser- 
vations were conducted under the test 
conditions arranged by Chief Crowley, 
Dr. Bunker, and Attorney Patton. 

The reader should satisfy himself con- 
cerning the mental and moral qualifica- 
tions of all the witnesses named by glanc- 
ing at the biographical sketches elsewhere 
in this volume. 

At the Mayor's office Dr. Schlesinger 
was announced as a resident of No. 1 Polk 
Street. He said he knew none of the com- 
mittee, and nobody present except the 
Examiner's representative knew the Doc- 
tor.* 

" I can converse with the spirits of your 
deceased friends/' said the medium, " and 
I am giving my life to this work. I gave 
up a great tea business to teach my fellow 
men that life does not end at the grave. 

*He now lives in Boston.— Editor. 



innioi-r'-- rT-in-fihi i Mj;g *j 



22 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

My home is constantly filled with bands 
of angels from the celestial depths, but I 
am able to call a few spirits around any 
box, table, or desk. I want you to satisfy 
yourself that all that is done here is ab- 
solutely honest." 

Before proceeding further the Doctor 
produced a testimonial from Editor Will 
S. Green, of the Colusa Sun (afterwards 
State Treasurer), which explained that 
Dr. Schlesinger's performances could not 
be explained on the theory of trickery. A 
clipping from the Sun of September 5, 
1890, gave an account of matters that had 
puzzled the people of Colusa. The in- 
vestigations began, therefore, with a great 
deal of interest, and before their conclu- 
sion the old Doctor had greatly puzzled 
all present. They could not tell whether 
it was some psychic power by which he 
operated, or whether they had been basely 
deceived. 

At his own request, Dr. Schlesinger was 



DO THE DEAD RETURN t 23 

not introduced to any of the persons pres- 
ent. He soon called their names, however, 
and said they were given to him by the 
spirits in the raps that all could hear on 
the desk. 

The Doctor's favorite method of com- 
municating startling information was to 
have the sitters write, before they came 
into his presence, fifteen or twenty names 
of living and dead friends. Each name 
being on a separate piece of paper, the 
visitors were requested to fold each slip 
tightly, so as to preclude any possibility 
of its being read by the medium. This 
done, the slips, all of equal size, were put 
into a hat and thoroughly shuffled. The 
Doctor would then say : " Pick out any 
slip yourself, and I will read it without 
looking and before you yourself know 
what the name is." There would then be 
raps, and in a few seconds the Doctor 
would give the name correctly. These 
names were written and folded in a room 
apart from the Doctor. 



24 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

" Granting that there is such a thing as 
mind-reading," said Chief Crowley, " I 
do not think mind-reading would account 
for what was done for me, because he read 
things that were not in my mind, telling 
me my mother's maiden name and where 
she died." 

Dr. Schlesinger calls his gift clairau- 
dient mediumship, and says his right ear 
is deaf to all terrestrial sounds, but 
quickened, as with a sixth sense, for com- 
munications from the other world. He 
says he can both see and hear spirits, and 
that bands of them encircle him, and at 
times, in the presence of some peculiarly 
"fit" visitors, manifest themselves with 
great clearness and power. To prove that 
the sounds he hears are celestial voices, he 
does many things which baffle those who 
witness the strange phenomena which 
abound in his presence wherever he goes. 

It was with much difficulty that those 
who participated in these seances and 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 25 

whose accounts of what they saw are sub- 
joined, were induced to give the medium 
a hearing. Chief Crowley was particu- 
larly opposed to giving serious attention 
to what he denounced as " trickery and 
sleight of hand," and afterwards called 
"marvelous and beyond power of expla- 
nation." Finally he wrote down a number 
of names on separate slips, as explained 
in the foregoing, and among those names 
appeared that of his mother — her maiden 
name. The medium at once told the Chief 
which pellet contained his mother's name, 
then read it, and in a few moments told 
where she died and where she was buried. 

A few minutes later the aged Doctor 
said : " The spirit of Detective Hutton, 
who died a violent death, hovers near 
you." 

The medium then spoke of matters that 
were known to nobody but Chief Crowley 
and the dead detective. This greatly 
puzzled the Chief, who was later deeply 



26 DO THE DEAD RETURN f 

affected over purported messages from a 
son and others who had been dear to him 
in life. 

Speaking of the purported message 
from his dead mother the Chief said : " I 
cannot explain this, which is marvelous, 
for I do not believe a human being in San 
Francisco knew that my mother's maiden 
name was Elizabeth McCarthy, that she 
died in New Jersey and was buried in New 
York." 

Chief Crowley then wrote down a list of 
years, among them the year of his 
mother's death. Dr. Schlesinger pointed 
to the year 1833 as that of her death. 

" Correct ! " replied Chief Crowley ; 
whereupon the medium said, " and the 
name of your father, Patrick J. Crowley, 
is also here, and he comes with your son 
Lewis, who has not been dead long." 

The Chief thought it the most wonder- 
ful performance he had ever seen. " He 
does marvelous and inexplicable things," 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 27 

said the Chief, " and I '11 admit I cannot 
tell how it is done. While I cannot believe 
he converses with spirits, I am puzzled. 




EX-CHIEF OF POLICE P. CROWLET. 

I want to see him again and look into the 
matter further." 

The experiments with Mayor L. R. 
Ellert, who sprang from his chair and 
positively declined to be thrown into a 



28 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

trance condition when the doctor re- 
quested him thus to visit the spirit world, 
were fully as startling as those with Chief 
Crowley. 

Mayor Ellert took a chair in front of 
his official table, which had thus been 
dedicated to spiritual uses, and asked if 
any spirits desired to communicate with 
him, whereupon the medium grasped his 
Honor's hands and the line of communica- 
tion with the spirits was declared fully 
established. Quite distinct raps were 
then heard on the table, and Dr. Schlesin- 
ger looked at the Mayor and said : " You 
are a medium yourself, sir! My, what a 
power ! " 

The Mayor was urged "to sit alone 
often and be patient," and was told that 
he could develop much power by such a 
course. 

Mayor Ellert then wrote down ten of 
fifteen names of living and dead friends, 
on separate slips of paper. He refused 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 29 

to use the paper handed him by Dr. 
Schlesinger, but cut up an official letter 
head which lay on his own desk. As he 
began to write the names, the medium 




HON. L. R. ELLERT. 



stepped away and engaged in conversa- 
tion with District Attorney Barnes and 
Mr. Bonnet at the other side of the room, 
so that he could not see what Mayor Ellert 
wrote. The Mayor carefully folded the 



30 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

slips, put them in a hat, and shuffled them. 
He then brought one forth from the 
hatful. 

" That 's a dead one," said Dr. Schles- 
inger. " Open it and see whether I am 
correct ; but don't let me see it." 

The Mayor obeyed the request, and 
answered, " Yes, this is a dead person's 
name ! " 

" Don't let me see it," said the mys- 
terious visitor, " and I '11 tell you what it 
is," whereupon he at once correctly pro- 
nounced the name of the Mayor's sister, 
which was not Ellert. 

The Mayor then announced that he was 
unable to explain the phenomena. He 
watched the medium's movements and 
convinced himself that there had been no 
juggling in the shuffle, and said that his 
visitor out-Hermanned Hermann. He 
would leave the solution of the phenomena 
to others learned in the arts of divination. 

The outcome of the seances and the 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 31 

story of what occurred may best be told 
by those who were present, and the sub- 
joined versions are given : — 

ATTORNEY PATTON'S STOEY. 




CHARLES L. PATTON. 

" I desire to preface what I have to say 
by remarking that while I have never 
been nor am I now a spiritualist, nor have 
I ever before been present at the per- 
formance of a medium, yet what I saw of 



32 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

Dr. Schlesinger's so-called manifestations 
from the spirit world is entirely inex- 
plicable to me upon any scientific hypo- 
thesis with which I am familiar; yet at 
the same time I must admit that I cannot 
explain the phenomena exhibited upon 
any theory of legerdemain or sleight of 
hand within my knowledge. Therefore, I 
merely state that I have seen, or seem- 
ingly seen, and heard the following re- 
markable things, during the sitting or 
seance with Dr. Schlesinger, leaving it to 
others more competent than I to deter- 
mine whether they are the manifestations 
of some psychic force at present unadmit- 
ted by scientists or the legerdemain of a 
sleight-of-hand performer. 

" The facts are as follows : At the re- 
quest of the Doctor, I wrote eight or ten 
names of different persons on as many 
slips of paper, two of the number being 
dead, and folded the slips in such a 
manner that the Doctor could not read 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 33 

them; and so far as I can judge, the Doc- 
tor could not have had any method of 
knowing what names I w T rote. I then 
placed the folded papers in a hat, and one 
of the other gentlemen present drew them 
out one by one. The Doctor, as each paper 
was drawn out, asked some question, such 
as i Guide, is this the one dead? > 
Finally, after all the papers had been held 
up and the questions asked, some raps on 
the table, seeming to have indicated ac- 
cording to the Doctor that the persons 
whose names were on two of the slips 
were dead, I, on examination, found that 
he was correct in his judgment. He then 
without (so far as I could see) having had 
any opportunity to have seen the names, 
desired me to place the slips with the 
i-.ames on in my pocket. Presently he 
said : ' I see two faces over your shoulder ; 
the name of one is J. B. The other says : 
1 I am glad you have commemorated my 
name by writing it here," the name is V. 



34 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

C. ; ' the Doctor being correct in naming 
the deceased person in each instance, and 
the message being appropriate to the 
character of the deceased person. I will 
add, that, so far as I know, Dr. Schlesin- 
ger had no possible means of knowing the 
name or anything about either person. 
One of the names, I feel confident, was not 
krown to any person in California outside 
of myself. Chas. L. Patton." 

BARNES WAS PUZZLED. 

District Attorney Barnes gives the fol- 
lowing account of the seance : — 

" I was completely surprised at the 
performance in the Mayor's office. It was 
the first seance I had ever attended, and 
I must confess that I had not the slightest 
respect for such manifestations other 
than a natural admiration for the quick- 
ness of the operator. I had always sup- 
posed that batteries, wires, a tolerable 
acquaintance with the sitter, all aided by 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 



35 



darkness, were the causes of the effects 
produced by the medium. In this case, 
however, the seance took place in broad 
daylight, and no attempt was made, so 




ATTOENEY W. S. BARNES. 

far as I could see, to use any mechanical 
means. The medium sat two or three feet 
from the Mayor's desk, and only touched 
the desk occasionally with his hand, yet 
from that desk came the spirit rappings 



36 DO THE DEAD RETURN t 

that were clearly audible to all of us in 
the room. I watched the others write lists 
of names containing each the name of 
some dead person, and saw the quickness 
with which Dr. Schlesinger picked out 
the persons who had passed away, and 
gave messages from them. When it came 
my turn I wrote a number of names on 
small slips of paper, folded them and held 
them in my hand. Among these names 
was that of a classmate of mine at Har- 
vard, who died long ago at Philadelphia, 
who had never been in California, and 
whose name I have not mentioned for 
years. Hardly had I sat down when Dr. 
Schlesinger called his full name and gave 
me a message from him, recalling an oc- 
currence, so far as I am aware, known 
only to the dead man and myself. To say 
that I was amazed but feebly expresses 
it; and when I asked the Doctor whence 
he got his information, he replied, l It is 
borne to me on angels' wings.' 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 37 

" Whether it was or not, it was a most 
remarkable thing, and deeply impressed 
upon me that i There are more things in 
heaven and earth than are dreamt of in 
our philosophy/ 

" William S. Barnes." 

Seven years after the foregoing was 
written, Mr. Barnes expressed himself as 
still deeply puzzled. " I cannot think of 
any experience in life so marvelous," he 
said, " so beyond my power to explain." 

JUDGE FERRAL'S TESTIMONY. 

Ex-Judge Eobert FerraTs narrative 
largely corroborates what the others said. 
He presents the case in his own way. 

" Having taken a deep interest from 
early boyhood in exhibitions of a mar- 
velous nature, such as magic, legerde- 
main, mesmerism, hypnotism, mind-read- 
ing, and spiritualism, it w T as with pleasure 
that I accepted the kind invitation to visit 



38 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

Dr. Schlesinger and personally witness 
his experiments and manifestations. 

" I found the Doctor an aged, venerable 
man, in a large room, surrounded by a 
company of ladies and gentlemen, bright, 
cheerful, and intelligent, all apparently 
bent upon the rational enjoyment of this 
life, and happy in the belief of companion- 
able intercourse with the realm of spirits. 

" Retiring to more quiet quarters, con- 
sisting of an ordinary bedroom and 
parlor, the business began without waste 
of words or loss of time. Having written 
the names of half a dozen persons, living 
and dead, each name on a separate slip, 
carefully folded and looking precisely 
alike, which were tossed into a hat and 
well shaken up, the doctor proceeded to 
name the contents of each paper as it was 
drawn out. Occasionally he made a mis- 
take, but in nearly every instance suc- 
ceeded at the first or second trial. He first 
separated the living from the dead, with- 



DO THE DEAD RETURN f 



39 



out opening the slips, and sometimes not 
even touching them; then proceeded to 
give the names. Afterward, upon writing 
place and cause of death, age, occupation, 




JUDGE ROBERT FERRAL. 



etc., upon other slips, the same result 
followed. Some of the names submitted 
by me were peculiar, and I believe known 
to no one else in this city, yet they were 
announced — read off, as it were — with 



40 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

but little hesitation and generally exactly 
as written. The same thing occurred as 
to the diseases and places of death. 

"During this manifestation of his power 
Dr. Schlesinger simply formed a circle or 
chain of hands, connecting with himself, 
frequently tapped the table, and appealed 
to an unseen ' guide ' for his information. 
Raps were said to have been heard also, 
but of this I cannot bear testimony. 

" How was this done? By mesmerism? 
No ; for there was nothing in the nature 
of sleep or putting to sleep. Mind-read- 
ing? Possibly; although some of the 
slips of paper were read correctly when 
the contents were for the time forgotten 
and unknown to myself. Hypnotism? 
Don't know, having but a faint idea how 
far these phenomena extend. By sharp- 
ness of sight, trickery, sleight of hand? I 
cannot answer, at least for the present, 
remaining, as before, an agnostic on these 
matters; unable to give an intelligent 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 41 

explanation, but at the same time not dis- 
posed to jeer or scoff at what I do not 
understand. Respectfully, 

" Robert Ferral." 
September 5, 1893. 

DR. BUNKER'S NARRATIVE. 

The following is Dr. R. E. Bunker's 
account, written at his old office, No. 802 
Kearny Street, just after the seances and 
while he was still in charge of the City 
Receiving Hospital: — 

" I saw Dr. Schlesinger in company 
with the other gentlemen named, and I 
saw wonderful things which I am wholly 
unable to explain. The phenomena, mani- 
festations, or things that occur in the 
medium's presence are not only interest- 
ing, but marvelous. I went possessed of 
something like eight or ten slips of paper, 
on each of which I had previously written 
(at my office) a name of some person I 
had known — some living, some dead. Not 



42 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 









a soul ever saw the slips, for I was alone 
when I wrote the names. Furthermore, 
they were so folded that no one could 
possibly have read a single name. Dr. 
Schlesinger at once picked out the names 
of living and dead persons, while the slips 
were held between my fingers and wheu 
I did not know what person's name was on 
the particular slip that I held. He pro- 
nounced every name correctly while I held 
the pellet, or as it lay untouched on his 
table. 

" To say that what he did was by the aid 
of wires or batteries would be to impart 
to wires and batteries more intelligence 
than the greatest philosophers have ever 
possessed. This is no explanation; nor 
has any one ever been able to explain to 
me how these things were done. I do not 
believe it was mind-reading (a term that 
conveys no intelligent idea to me any- 
how), for I did not know the name on the 
slip under question — not until I after- 



DO THE DEAD RETURN f 43 

wards unfolded it and corroborated the 
Doctor's readings. You understand that 
the entire bunch had been thoroughly 
shuffled in a hat before any slip was picked 
up. 

" To come to specific instances, let me 
give a few cases as they occurred. On one 
slip I had written my mother's maiden 
name, which was not known to anybody 
in San Francisco. It was placed among 
eight or ten other names of women — some 
married, some unmarried, some wholly 
fictitious. All slips were folded alike and 
placed in a hat under the table, which T 
held in my hands. Dr. Schlesinger asked 
me to pick out the pellets, one at a time 
and hold them between my finger and 
thumb. He would say, i That is not the 
name, throw it aside ; ' and so on, until 
he hesitated at one pellet and said, i That 
is your mother's maiden name; it is Emily 
J. Laumann.' 

" The answer was correct, and in a 



44 DO THE DEAD RETURN ? 

similar manner he read other names and 
told me all about the persons. I had 
written the name of Dick Foster on one 
slip. Foster had died of consumption at 
the old Bella Union Theater, on June 
21st. The medium did not read his name, 
but wrote a message backwards — that is, 
from left to right — very rapidly, and 
when I held it up to the light with the 
written surface from me, I could read the 
following : — 

I am glad to be here, and if I can obtain 
the appropriate conditions I will show my 
identity. DICK FOSTER. 

" This was a puzzling thing, and I 
should like for some one to explain how 
it was done, if there was not communica- 
tion with some invisible intelligence. In 
regard to Foster's name it should be said 
that the medium had not seen nor heard 
it, and that his hand flew over the paper 
very fast while he wrote the backward 
message. So far as I could see, Dr. 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 45 

Schlesinger was quite deaf and near- 
sighted. He was an old man of heavy 
weight and clumsy fingers. His manner 
was that of a devout believer in the 
genuineness of his theory. If any one can 
explain to me how these things were done, 
he will interest me far more than Dr. 
Schlesinger did, and it should be said that 
my attention to what he did was held 
without interruption from the start. 
There were several other like tests where- 
in he read for me other names by a process 
equally startling, making one feel that he 
had marvelous powers. 

" R. E. Bunker, M. D." 

WHAT MR. BONNET SAW. 

Theodore F. Bonnet, who was a re- 
porter for the Daily Report at the time 
of the seance at the Mayor's office, was a 
guest of the author during the seance. 
Mr. Bonnet, who is now editor and owner 
of Town Talk, an influential weekly news- 



46 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

paper, wrote the following account of 
what he saw and handed it to the author 
just after the seance: — 

"After witnessing the efforts of Dr. 
Schlesinger as a medium, one cannot but 
be impressed by his marvelous powers of 
divination. They are impossible of ex- 
planation on any hypothesis calculated to 
reduce his work to the vulgar plane of 
legerdemain. Yet the manifestations, as 
he is pleased to call his marvelous, 
puzzling and apparently supernatural 
revelations concerning matters with 
which he could not become familiar under 
ordinary circumstances, are after all, un- 
satisfactory to the person engaged in test- 
ing his power. I must give him credit, 
however, for having startled me by one 
message. I had written on small slips of 
paper, which were then carefully folded — 
all this an hour or more before the meet- 
ing. One of the names was Joseph Touhill, 
an Oakland burglar, who had been killed 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 47 

by a policeman who caught him robbing a 
saloon. I had known Touhill, and had 
been quite friendly with him in late years, 
but had never suspected that he was of 




EDITOR THEODORE P. BONNET. 

the Jekyll and Hyde species. The medium 
did not at once direct me to the piece of 
paper on which Touhill's name was 
written, but afterwards he suddenly said : 



48 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

1 The spirit of the man with whom you 
wish to communicate is here now.' 

" I signified my willingness to hear 
from the spirit, whereupon the Doctor 
said, ' Old boy, I 'm not quite as dead as 
you think.' Then he mentioned the name 
of Joseph Touhill. Now, this circum- 
stance deeply impressed me, because the 
language was so characteristic of the dead 
burglar, it having been customary with 
him to address me as ' Old boy.' Mind- 
reading will have to be rejected as an 
explanation, because the Doctor subse- 
quently read a name that was on a pellet 
that I had not opened, and knew nothing 
about until I subsequently read it. I 
picked up the pellet from the desk where 
I had put it with a number of others, and 
handed it to Mayor Ellert, who, without 
examining it, deposited it in his vest- 
pocket. Then came rappings on the table, 
and the medium said : i Behind you stands 
the spirit of the man whose name is on 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 49 

that paper. He was an eminent person, 
and he died far away from here. He is 
waving a flag over your head, and on it 
is written the name of Victor Hugo.' 

" The name was correct. Subsequently 
the Doctor correctly read the name of 
William Cullen Bryant, which I had also 
written. The Doctor quoted the spirit of 
the poet as saying that he was delighted 
that I was interested in demonstrating 
that there was a world of spirits. Dr. 
Schlesinger's feats are bewildering to the 
human mind. If he is a mere trickster he 
possesses in a marvelous way the skill to 
disguise his character, for his appearance 
and demeanor are those peculiar to 
fanaticism or strong faith in a cause. 

" Theo. F. Bonnet." 

MR. M'CLOSKEY'S VERSION. 

The following is the narrative of Mr. 
H. H. McCloskey, a resident of Merced at 
the time of the seance, but now a San 
Francisco lawyer : — 



50 DO THE DEAD RETURN f 

" I did not attend the little seance at 
the Mayor's office by appointment. I was 
on my way to finish up some business and 
catch the 4-o'clock boat, when District 
Attorney Barnes suggested that I drop in 
and see the fun. Intending to remain but 
a few moments, I accepted the invitation, 
and have no reason to regret having done 
so. As to what happened there, while I 
remember perfectly well what was done, 
and kept careful note of all that I saw, I 
am unable to account for it on any other 
hypothesis than that the Doctor was, as 
he claims to be, a spiritual medium. At 
the same time I am not prepared to admit 
that much. 

" What I saw I saw clearly; it was real 
and devoid of illusion. There being no 
one present but the Mayor and thoroughly 
reputable gentlemen, collusion by which 
a portion of the events of that afternoon 
might be accounted for is, of course, out 
of the question; and neither collusion, 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 51 

mind-reading, nor anything else could 
account for all that occurred. 

" The Doctor requested me to write on 
seven slips of paper, one on each slip, the 
names of six acquaintances, five of whom 
were living and the sixth dead. On the 
seventh my own name was to be written. 
I had never seen the Doctor before, and 
have no reason to suppose that he had 
ever seen me. I used my own pencil in 
writing the names, and wrote upon paper 
furnished by the city and county for the 
use of his Honor the Mayor. When writ- 
ing the names I was twenty feet away 
from the Doctor, and as I wrote upon each 
slip I folded it up carefully, so that I my- 
self could not see anything of the writing, 
nor tell one of the seven slips from the 
others. Five of the names were those of 
intimate personal friends, the sixth of a 
man whom I knew in a business way, but 
for whom, while I was not at all intimate 
with him, I had always a great regard. 



52 DO THE DEAD RETURN f 

This man is dead, and has been so for a 
couple of years. 

" In obedience to the Doctor's request, 
I placed the seven slips on the table. Tak- 
ing the hand of Mr. Barnes, I holding the 
hand of the latter, the Doctor proceeded 
to take the slips one by one from the table. 
The first he held a second and dropped. 
The second he handed to me saying, ' This 
contains your name.' Upon opening it I 
found the Doctor to be correct, and asking 
him what my name was he promptly told 
us. 

" I confess I was a little mystified, but 
the Doctor did n't stop there. Continuing, 
he picked up the other slips until the fifth 
one had been reached. ' This is the name 
of your dead friend. His name is V. C. 
W. Hooker — not exactly, but a name very 
similar. I can't quite make it out. He 
says he will talk to you at another time.' 
As you saw when I opened the slip it 
showed as I had written it the name of 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 53 

V. C. W. Hooper, a man who was quite 
prominent in Merced during his lifetime. 
Just how the Doctor found that out I 
leave to others who were there to explain 
when they have time after accounting for 
the mysterious things that happened to 
themselves. I cannot and will not pre- 
tend to. It was not mind-reading, how- 
ever. Of that I am satisfied. For as he 
picked up the fifth slip and said, ' This is 
the name of the dead man/ he did not 
get that information by reading my mind, 
for there were two more slips remaining, 
and I could n't say which was which. 
That is beyond any explanation. Mind- 
reading will not fit it at all. 

" One of the party — I think it was Mr. 
Barnes — wrote the name of two dead men 
in his list. Leaving out the first problem 
— the picking up of the right slip — 
putting that aside, how is it to be ex- 
plained that the Doctor chose the right 
name of the two dead ones? Mr. Barnes 



54 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

did not know. He had not opened the 
slip ; therefore the Doctor could not read 
his mind. For myself, I give up the co- 
nundrum. Very truly. 

" H. H. McCloskey." 



CHAPTER IV. 

CHARACTER OF THE NARRATORS. 

To any one who has a fair knowledge 
of human nature, a glance at the line 
pictures of the gentlemen who partici- 
pated in the events with which this book 
deals will tell that they are men of char- 
acter and keen observation. In San Fran- 
cisco and throughout the West many of 
them are as well known as the Governor 
of the State. 

Their names need no introduction, and 
since they have been representative men 
for many years it is not necessary to say 
much about them. For the benefit of 
persons who know nothing concerning 
them, however, the following information 
is submitted: — 

LtfCi 



56 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

Patrick Crowley, Chief of Police, was 
born in Albany County, New York, on 
March 17, 1831. When quite young he 
went to New York and worked in different 
printing-offices. He came to San Fran- 
cisco in 1850, and worked in the mining- 
camps for two or three years. He was 
engaged in the boating business here, 
when in 1854 he was elected to the office of 
Town Constable on the Democratic ticket. 
He was re-elected on the same ticket in 
1855, and from 1856 he was re-elected 
every two years on the old People's Party 
ticket till 1866, when he was elected Chief 
of Police. He held that office by election 
for six years, when he quit the force and 
went into the brokerage business. In 
1878, by an act of the Legislature, the 
Board of Police Commissioners received 
the power to appoint the Chief of Police. 
The office was tendered him, and after con- 
siderable pressure he reluctantly accepted 
it, as he was making an excellent living 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 57 

at his business. He held the office by 
election or appointment for twenty-four 
successive years. His wide experience 
with criminals, bunko-men, and all sorts 
of tricksters gave him excellent training 
and amply fitted him for a thorough in- 
spection of all that was done during the 
seances. In fact, it was his boast at the 
beginning of his sitting with Dr. Schlesin- 
ger that he had helped to trap the Eddies 
and other disreputable mediums, and that 
he would soon expose the fraud in the case 
in hand. 

William S. Barnes, son of the eloquent 
and famous General W. H. L. Barnes 
(known all over America as the greatest 
living after-dinner orator, and known all 
over the United States as a Kepublican 
orator), is a graduate of Harvard and a 
man of fine legal attainments. He is one 
of the most prominent Native Sons, and is 
famous for his shrewdness as Prosecut- 



58 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

ing Attorney for the great City and 
County of San Francisco. It was he who 
prosecuted and convicted Theodore Dur- 
rant in one of the most marvelous crimi- 
nal cases of the century. He was also the 
star lawyer in the prosecution of the great 
Sydney Bell footpad case. Mr. Barnes 
was the organizer and president of the 
Association of District Attorneys of Cali- 
fornia ; is an active member of California 
Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M., a member of the 
Pacific-Union Club, also of the Union 
League, of which he is one of a committee 
on political action, of the Juarez Manu- 
facturing Company, of which he is Presi- 
dent. Thus his mastery in the legal 
profession is no less equaled in his social 
and business associations. 

Attorney Charles L. Patton is Grand 
Master of California Masonic fraternity, 
and is a gentleman of the highest personal 
and professional character. He was a 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 59 

strong competitor against Mayor Phelan, 
and was chosen by the Republican party a 
few years ago as the best candidate 
against the present (1900) Mayor of the 
city. Mr. Patton is a man of much erudi- 
tion and wide experience with men and 
books. He, like all his associates, and like 
the writer of this book, was and is a skep- 
tic regarding the truth of so-called spirit- 
ual phenomena. His account speaks for 
itself. 

Mayor L. E. Ellert is a man of legal 
attainments and of wide business inter- 
ests. He was a popular reform Mayor, 
and was in office at the time of the occur- 
rences narrated. He is to-day one of the 
best-known and most highly respected 
lawyers and business men of San Fran- 
cisco. For many years he was a skillful 
pharmacist, and his wide knowledge of 
drugs and physiology was useful in the 
attempted solution of the various prob- 
lems presented by the medium. 



60 DO THE DEAD RETURN f 

Judge Eobert Ferbal is the warhorse 
of Democracy, and one of the Nestors of 
the California bar. He made some of the 
most spirited races ever entered upon for 
Congress, and polled the largest vote ever 
known for an unpopular political party 
in the old days. As a judge and criminal 
lawyer of wide experience, as well as by 
reason of his unexcelled literary attain- 
ments and extended experience in the 
science of hypnotism and kindred phe- 
nomena, the Judge was an invaluable 
spectator and participant, especially as 
his native wit usually enables him to see 
through many things that puzzle other 
men. Here, however, he stood dumb- 
founded. 

Dr. E. E. Bunker is a regular physi- 
cian of high reputation and personal 
standing. He was at the time of the 
matters recorded in charge of the City 
Receiving Hospital, and was considered 



DO THE DEAD RETURN? 61 

one of the most careful and competent ob- 
servers at the seance. Like all others 
named, Dr. Bunker's word is absolutely 
above reproach, and there is not a more 
competent man in the country. 

Theodore F. Bonnet was at the time 
of the seance a reporter for the Daily 
Report. He was afterwards elected to the 
important position of License Collector, 
and is now editor and owner of Town 
Talk. This is one of the best weekly 
papers in the United States, and its suc- 
cess dates from its purchase by the gentle- 
man named. Mr. Bonnet is an Elk of high 
standing, and a man of good family and 
social position. In addition to all these 
facts, it should be borne in mind that his 
long training as a reporter fitted him in 
a peculiarly advantageous way for the 
duties of trying to detect what was done 
by the medium, 



OCT 3 1900 

62 DO THE DEAD RETURN? 

H. H. McCloskey was a casual visitor 
at the seance, being the guest of District 
Attorney Barnes. Mr. McCloskey was at 
the time a resident of Merced, and was a 
prominent lawyer and politician. He was 
also a Bepublican State Central Com- 
mitteeman and was considered one of 
the ablest of the party. He is to-day a 
well-known San Francisco attorney. His 
account of the seance explains just what 
occurred. 

These facts, with some of the pictures, 
will give the reader an idea of the men 
whose narratives he has doubtless read 
with pleasure. 

In conclusion, it should be remembered 
that this book is sold by the publishers 
only. It will be sent to any address for 
fifty cents. If you have enjoyed reading 
it, recommend it to the next friend you 
meet. 




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